Spring Break
College Station wins three public communication awards
n Institute commends College Station for excellence
By: Alex Worsham
Issue date: 6/30/09 Section: News
The City of College Station's public communications department won a record three awards at the Texas Association of Municipal Information Officers, or TAMIO, conference.
"We're always excited when our public communications committee wins awards," said assistant city manager Kathy Merrill. "They do a lot of good work with public service."
TAMIO members competed in the conference from June 17 to 19, in Lewisville, Texas. Each member submitted the best public communications campaign and was judged by non-TAMIO members.
College Station received first place for smoke detector safety public service announcements for populations more than 75,000. The announcements were developed in conjunction with United Way, which gave smoke detectors to people who needed them.
"It was very successful," said Wayne Larson, public communications director and TAMIO member. "[United Way] gave away all the smoke detectors they had allocated for the program."
The department also won first place for its 2008 bond referendum marketing campaign for populations more than 100,000. These bonds, voted on during the 2008 presidential election, could not use taxpayers' money to advertise the campaigns. The department employed low-cost methods to spread the word, such as using community forums and attaching messages to various brochures.
"You can't do flashy ad campaigns," said Peggy Calliham, public communications community relations manager. "[The campaign] is a comprehensive means of getting word out to the public. We used every media trick in our bag."
The action resulted in four of the six bonds passing. A new city hall and a senior community center did not pass, but building a skate park did.
"It's the first time the young citizens came out for an issue," Calliham said. "And they do have needs for appropriate recreation."
The third award the public communications department won was second place for "Access" e-newsletter, developed in 2008.
"We have an electronic newsletter that goes out weekly," Calliham said. "Our younger citizens communicate more electronically than written. This is a way to reach a wide range of audiences and save paper."
Though this year more awards were won for College Station at the TAMIO conference than any other year, it is not the first time the public communications department has won an award.
"In addition to these [awards] we won some for our videos [in 2008]," Larson said. "We did a public service announcement for a water quality report. It was shot in a saloon in the Northgate area."
"We're always excited when our public communications committee wins awards," said assistant city manager Kathy Merrill. "They do a lot of good work with public service."
TAMIO members competed in the conference from June 17 to 19, in Lewisville, Texas. Each member submitted the best public communications campaign and was judged by non-TAMIO members.
College Station received first place for smoke detector safety public service announcements for populations more than 75,000. The announcements were developed in conjunction with United Way, which gave smoke detectors to people who needed them.
"It was very successful," said Wayne Larson, public communications director and TAMIO member. "[United Way] gave away all the smoke detectors they had allocated for the program."
The department also won first place for its 2008 bond referendum marketing campaign for populations more than 100,000. These bonds, voted on during the 2008 presidential election, could not use taxpayers' money to advertise the campaigns. The department employed low-cost methods to spread the word, such as using community forums and attaching messages to various brochures.
"You can't do flashy ad campaigns," said Peggy Calliham, public communications community relations manager. "[The campaign] is a comprehensive means of getting word out to the public. We used every media trick in our bag."
The action resulted in four of the six bonds passing. A new city hall and a senior community center did not pass, but building a skate park did.
"It's the first time the young citizens came out for an issue," Calliham said. "And they do have needs for appropriate recreation."
The third award the public communications department won was second place for "Access" e-newsletter, developed in 2008.
"We have an electronic newsletter that goes out weekly," Calliham said. "Our younger citizens communicate more electronically than written. This is a way to reach a wide range of audiences and save paper."
Though this year more awards were won for College Station at the TAMIO conference than any other year, it is not the first time the public communications department has won an award.
"In addition to these [awards] we won some for our videos [in 2008]," Larson said. "We did a public service announcement for a water quality report. It was shot in a saloon in the Northgate area."
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